HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A deputy shot and killed a pit bull after the dog attacked him, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
The dog was one of three, deputies said, bit a woman and two men in the 2100 block of Forrest Oak Road around 6:30 a.m. Monday.
Witnesses said the dogs were roaming the neighborhood and appeared to be headed for a group of school children who were waiting for their bus. The dogs didn't reach the children, but did attack the three adults.
One of the dogs went after Isabell Herrera. She had just taken some trash out to the curb in front of her house when the dog followed her back to her front door, and locked his teeth on her left arm.
Her daughter-in-law, Genesis Trochez, said Herrera's husband intervened to save her.
"Her husband saw something black running. He heard her screaming and so he came back and they were biting her arms. One of the dogs," Trouchez said. "He said he grabbed a ladder or something and he threw it at him because he wouldn't stop biting her."
He was able to fight the dog off, but not before Herrera received six deep puncture wound on her arm. At one point during the attack Herrera said the dog tried to go into her house through the front door, which was open, but she managed close it before he could get in.
The dogs also attacked two adult men in the same block. Sgt. Cedric Collier, of the Harris County Sheriff's Office, said a deputy drove into one of the dogs that appeared to be going after the children. The dog was knocked down, but got up and went after the deputy Collier said. The deputy shot and killed the dog.
Harris County Animal Control officers captured a second dog, but the third dog got away. An animal control officer left an animal in the neighborhood. The missing dog was reported captured around 5 p.m. Monday. The dogs weren't wearing tags that would identify the owner.
Resident Jose Zavala said aggressive, stray dogs have been a problem in the neighborhood in the past.
"I saw some time different dogs. They follow the kids, I think, about six months ago," Zavala said.
Zavala said he complained to the Aldine School District officials, who, in turn, called Harris County Animal Control, but animal control officers weren't able to locate the dogs on that occasion.